Georgians face Monday deadline to register to vote on June 9

ATLANTA, Ga. (WTOC/AP) — Georgians have until the end of the day Monday to register to vote in the June 9 elections.

Among races on the ballot that day will be primary elections for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and the state House and Senate. Some local races are also on the ballot.

Citizens can register online, including anyone who has moved, is new to the state or has recently turned 18. Registered voters can cast ballots in person or request to vote by mail.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has mailed out 6.9 million absentee ballot requests. The office anticipates voter turnout to be typical, but this time about 50 percent of those votes coming by mail.

“We were looking for about two million people voting and right now we’re over 1.3 million, 1.4 million requests. So, we actually may hit that number of two million it’s just going to be a totally different dynamic than we really were expecting,” Ga. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.

For comparison, in past general primary elections, there were less than 40,000 absentee ballots.

Secretary Raffensperger says they are confident in the security of the election with multiple verification points, locks, and cameras at drop off locations. Additionally, he says they have added high-speed ballot scanners for these absentee votes.

While they expect voters to use this option more than in previous years, in-person voting is still an option with early voting beginning in just a week.

Secretary Raffensperger says the process will be socially distanced, they recommend wearing masks and will have sanitation ready. He is confident in what they have done to prepare.

“I feel really good about it obviously this is a once in a multi-generational, once every 100-year event and so whatever we do here 100 years from now will maybe have much better ways of doing it,” Raffensperger said.

Secretary Raffenspeger says they’re getting last minute equipment, and sharing their message with counties, but will be ready for election day June 9.